As I mentioned in my last post, I had five friends over for dinner Sunday night and fed them six Japanese-inspired courses.  The first course was this oyster in a sake-based sauce that I made up without measuring anything, but I think the proportions were roughly as listed below.  Although I didn't serve it in a shot glass, I'll call it a "shooter" anyway.  I bought the oysters at the Dupont farmers market Sunday morning from Busters Seafood.  I really liked the shooter and my guests claimed to like it as well.  I plan on making something like it again.  Here's a recipe that makes somewhere between a half and three-quarter cups.  I'm thinking that the number of people it would serve will depend on how you serve it (e.g., on a shallow serving spoon, in a shot glass, etc.).

• 1 cup sake
• 2 cloves garlic*, minced
• 1-inch piece of ginger*, peeled and minced or grated
• juice of 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons mirin
• 1 spring onion*, thinly sliced

1. Combine everything but the onion in a small sauce pan.
2. Bring it to a boil and then lower the heat enough to keep it from boiling over—keep an eye on it!  Continue cooking until it's reduced to about a half cup—about 15 minutes.
3. Remove from the heat and strain.  Discard the solids and allow the liquid to cool to room temperature, then put it in the fridge or freezer to chill it until ready to serve.  Serve it cold, with a freshly-shucked oyster and garnish with some spring onion.